Scienific literature is replace with the physiological effects and benefits of dietary fiber in the diet. Among those benefits are included bowel normalization, prevention of various colonic diseases such as diverticulosis, therapeutic treatment for diabetes, hypoglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and respiratory diseases as well as a control for metabolic rates to help prevent obesity.
Psyllium seed husk is a well known source of dietary fiber. The single adult dose is about 3 grams of powdered psyllium seed husk which is administered by dispersing in water or an aqueous beverage. Powdered psyllium seek husk inherently has very poor wetting capabilities and therefore must be vigorously mixed with aqueous fluids to produce a palatable dispersion.
Psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid consists of the mucillaginous portion (the husk milled or unmilled) of blond psyllium seeds. Psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid contains natural mucillate and forms a gelatinous mass on contact with water. It is useful in the treatment of constipation by acting as a fecal softener and also as a demulcent in the presence of inflamed mucosa. Psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid, however, exhibits poor dispersibility and mixability in water. The numerous individual particles tend to agglomerate when psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid is mixed with water. Hydration takes place over the surface of such agglomerated aggregates to form gel-coated lumps, the interiors of which are still substantially dry, and these lumps are extremely difficult to disperse. This effect is aggravated by the fact that psyllium has a tendency to float on the surface of water, allowing partially dissolved particles to agglomerate into large masses.
Traditionally psyllium seed preparations have been formulated to contain equal parts powdered psyllium husks and a water soluble diluent such as a sugar, typically sucrose, fructose and dextrose. The high concentration of diluent aids dispersion and hydration of the powdered psyllium. The 50:50 mixtures with diluent still require vigorous agitation, reduce the available bulk laxative by half, add calories and cannot be used by those on restrictive, low calorie or sugar free diets.
Effervescent psyllium powder formulas have been developed to improve dispersion. Effervescent products are high in sodium ion and/or potassium ion content which prevent their use by individuals on a low sodium diet such as diabetics and hypertensives. In addition, the amount of bulk laxative present is only about 50%.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the poor mixing and dispersion properties of powdered psyllium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,263 discloses an ingestible granulated psyllium composition consisting essentially of granules of psyllium powder having at least 90% psyllium content, which is rendered rapidly dispersible in water by the presence on the surface of the psyllium particles of a coating of an amount up to about 10% by weight of a non-toxic, normally solid, alcohol soluble, water dispersible polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, or mixture thereof, effective to render the psyllium particles substantially instantly and uniformly dispersible in water.
The psyllium particles are coated by the additional step of wet granulating with the normally solid dispersant polyethylene glycol and or polyvinylpyrrolidone in a volatile organic solvent. This apparently entraps air in the granules thus permitting rapid wetting and hydration of the psyllium particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,280 discloses a method of increasing the dispersibility and mixability of psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid by applying a film of hydrolyzed starch oligosaccharide, a mono- or di- saccharide, a polyglucose, or a polymaltose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,331 discloses a modified dry dietary fiber product which is readily dispersible in liquids such as water, comprising a dry dietary fiber product coated with from 0.05 to 20% by weight of the food grade emulsifier. The process for producing coated dietary fiber products comprises blending these dietary fiber product materials with the mixture of a non-toxic solvent in a food grade emulsifier followed by removing the solvent.